


Folie a Deux

by AryanCoconut



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, F/M, Falling In Love, Fluff, Minor Violence, Pining, Smut, Smut starts a few chapters in
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-10
Updated: 2015-10-24
Packaged: 2018-03-29 21:13:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,420
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3910915
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AryanCoconut/pseuds/AryanCoconut
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Armin Arlert is a regular freshman at a college in New York. Annie Leonhart is the terrifying woman he falls madly in love with. They're both fucked up in their own way, but they each might be just the thing the other needs.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Two blondes, one kick, and a hell of a headache

'Is my class boring you, Mr Arlert?'

Armin's head promptly rose, eyes fluttering open to stare in confusion at the one who beckoned, a rather irked Professor standing with folded arms. As the blonde wiped the drool from his chin and readjusted himself, all he could think about was how much he hated living with Eren Jaeger.

He didn't hold it against him of course, he realised that sex was a healthy part of relationships, and that Eren was perfectly within his rights to get down and dirty with Mikasa whenever they wanted. It was an annoyance, however, that he chose to do this almost every night, usually just as Armin had decided to retire for the evening. At first it hadn't affected him that much, he just accepted that there was nothing he could to to prevent it, and started drinking an extra coffee in the mornings. However, when he began to notice himself drifting off during his classes, Armin began to long for the days when Eren would stay up watching re-runs of old tv shows obnoxiously loud instead.

'N-no, Professor Hanji, please continue,' he mumbled, weary blue gaze stained with an unmistakable hint of guilt. Hanji sighed, rolled her eyes and continued to explain whatever it was she had been going on about. Armin had missed most of it, as he was painfully aware, and as usual would have to spend a few hours catching up online. _To hell with it,_ he thought _, if I'm going to catch up anyway then what's the point in staying for the rest_. With a dejected sigh he reluctantly decided to depart. Picking up his laptop and shoving it clumsily into his backpack, he climbed up the stairs and (with quite a large effort) pushed open the mahogany double doors at the back of the lecture hall and made his way off campus.

As he made his way down the empty street, a light drizzle of rain tumbled down out of the cloudy sky above.The bus stop down the road was crowded, full of people seeking shelter from the downpour. Businessmen and -women mostly, their briefcases dangling haphazardly from their hands. As he approached, in the distance he saw the approaching bus in the distance, and panicked. He usually caught the last bus of the night, being as he had recently switched to late classes due to his tiredness. Beginning to jog, he clumsily sauntered down the street, rushing to get to the stop and fighting to ignore the already viciously burning stitch in his abdomen.

While he finally leapt (with great difficulty due to his legs almost collapsing beneath him) up the step and through the door, he heard a quiet chuckle resonate through the bus. Combing the seats for the source of the noise as a dark red blush crept up through his cheeks, he spotted a small blonde girl near the front, with a hand over her mouth in an attempt to muffle her laughter. He swiftly turned around, paid the driver and walked to the back of the bus, slumping into the farthest seat from the mysterious giggler.

Armin sat perfectly still during the start of the bus's journey, the youth's socially awkward nature becoming increasingly more evident due to the embarrassment he currently felt. Slowly, his thoughts would shift, away from the woman's hurtful response and more towards...the actual woman herself. Though her face was obscured beneath the hood of her baggy black hoodie, Armin could've sworn that he recognised her, her tone of voice, her small stature, her hair, it seemed oddly familiar. So in his effort to find out where on earth he even knew her from, he spent the entirety of his journey just kinda looking over towards her, eyes narrowed in an inquisitive manner.

Before he knew it, the woman was on her way out, however in her departure she failed to notice a small, folded up envelope fall from her hoodie and onto the floor. When Armin realised that no one else was going to recover the item, he took it upon himself to return it, feebly making his way down the bus, swiping up the object and then hopping off after her.

 

After doing a double take to check which way she went, he walked briskly after her. She was quite quick for her short stature, so Armin had to make an effort to keep up. But, as he finally got near enough to her he reached out to grab her shoulder...

...and not a second later found himself on the floor, his head throbbing with pain. The small girl was standing over him, reeling her leg downwards after she had struck him with the mother of all kicks, a furious look on her face as her hand drew back for a punch to follow up. 'Wait!' he exclaimed, terrified, flailing both arms up in defence. The woman seemed to recognise this and her agressive stance shifted to become more relaxed all of a sudden. 'What the fuck do you want, asshole?' she spoke, softly yet somehow filled with violent intent. Shakily, Armin mumbled 'I'm so sorry for following you please don't punch me again I just wanted to re--' Armin's voice ebbed into silence and his body froze, eyes widening while he felt his entire form shudder lightly. This strange behaviour prompted the woman's utmost confusion, so she paused for a moment, the hostility in her voice fading slightly, genuine concern taking it's place. "...are... you alright...?" she asked, though no longer violent she was still as cold as ever.

Armin did not respond, in fact he didn't even register the question, he was too concerned with the warm puddle emerging beneath his head. _Is that...oh...blood...o-oh...bl...blo..._ And at that moment, amidst a harsh mixture of pain, shock and blood loss, the boy promptly passed out.

". . .fuck."


	2. Emergency rooms and familiar faces.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After kicking her 'attacker' in the head, Annie has no desire to have to deal with an assault charge. Thankfully, she happened to have knocked out the most easily forgiving person in the city.

A dark and dreary looking ER room with rain pattering against the misty grey windows, almost dead silent save for the distant chattering of the doctors and staff, and the harsh stormy winds that roared against the building's creaking walls.

Annie Leonhardt was used to these environments.

To go back to a place like this was not something that she had expected today, and something that much to her annoyance, could have been easily been avoided. But alas, here she sat, slumped into her chair, that solemn icy gaze of hers locked onto the unconscious body of the boy that she had knocked out cold. _It wasn't even that hard a kick_  she reasoned to herself. Sure, he had a concussion and needed 7 stitches but it wasn't her fault...not entirely at least. Had she expected the kid to be as weak as he was moronic, she would have obviously held back a little more. But it was his weakness that stopped her from leaving him passed out and bloodied on the curb, yet it was not pity that provoked these feelings, it was a genuine sense of empathy...just strong enough to make her regret cracking the dork's head open.

Though regardless, this was definitely not an ideal situation. Her life was already a mess prior to this, failing college, struggling to pay the bills for her shitty one bedroom apartment, she did not need assault charges added onto it, especially not just because her honed instincts mistook some nerdy brat for an actual threat. She could have walked now and she realised this, but at this point she didn't have the energy so instead she elected to wait patiently for the boy's awakening.

That moment eventually came and he weakly emerged from the blankets of the hospital bed, his fingers tracing against the damp blood stained bandages coiled around his head. It took him a while to come to, but Annie however had waited long enough, and instead of letting him properly awaken, she called out to him promptly while he assessed his own physical state. "Hey, asshole."

In response the recently awoken brat screamed out loudly, leaping clumsily backwards the pillow as he plunged into an immediate and very visible state of panic and alert, much to Annie's own amusement. Letting out a quiet chuckle, she tilted her head, examining the look of fear that spread across teen's features before glancing away and mumbling. "I really scare you that much...?" The boy gulped, still speechless. That was answer enough for her. "Hm... suppose I did do a number on you, yeah..." she continued, eyeing the cowering figure in the corner of her eye. "I'm sorry...well...actually no, not quite, not until I get a good reason for why the you were following me. What are you, some sort of fucking creep?" In response to the accusation, the blonde let out a series of squealed "no's" before trying to explain his actions. "No, no, no no i-it was nothing like that I swear! I-...I was just..." he paused, murmuring nonsensically and biting his lip, hands ruffling through his blond sweat-drenched locks. "I-..I can't...I can't remember why, I really can't!

The last thing I recall was the kick and the blood and then I woke up and..." If he had continued into his rant, Annie sure as hell didn't hear, she just stared blankly with an utterly unimpressed glare and folded arms. She broke this silence with a short and weary sigh, immediately followed by the announcement of her verdict "Just...forget it. You're...annoying... but I can see you're harmless so, I'm sorry." The tiny woman got to her feet and walked to his bedside, failing to notice fact he was rearing away and extending her own hand awkwardly in a half hearted greeting. "Annie. Annie Leonhardt." She did however notice the quivering frail form of the boy gradually grow still, his wide eyes glued to the sight of her hand, a glimmer of disbelief crossing his face. _Did he expect more hostility?_ Annie wondered, well she couldn't blame him if he did. Slowly, an uncomfortable sheepish grin formed upon the lips of her once victim, and he shook her hand in response. "I'm Armin, Armin Arlert." he grunted a tad on the shake, perhaps her grip was too tight, or the male still too weak, either way it hurt him. "Nice to m-...meet you..." he stuttered hesitantly, but Annie only scoffed, folding her arms as she strolled back to the armchair at the foot of his bed. "Whatever you say, Armin...oh, and you have 7 stitches by the way." she added nonchalantly as soon as she saw him running his fingers along the area of his wounds.

Armin winced slightly as he continued to run his hand along the bandages, giving the girl a shaky nod before readjusting in his bed. "Wait...so, you...you brought me here?" He asked, looking up at her in disbelief as he said it, being met only with a quiet nod in response, yet the boy still did not seem to understand. "W-Wait...so...did you call an ambulance or...?" Annie sighed quietly, shaking her head while she sipped a mug of lukewarm coffee, lazily twiddling with her platinum blonde hair. "I didn't have my phone on me, and from the distance it was a lot quicker just to carry you, so I did that." As she said it, she didn't consider it being such a difficult concept for him to grasp, yet when her gaze went back to lock onto him, there he sat, looking as surprised as a startled baby animal, eyes widened to their limit. "You...actually carried me here? Wow...you're a lot stronger than you look." the boy mumbled, voice ebbing, perhaps he found it difficult to concede a compliment to the woman who had smacked him into unconsciousness with a single strike. "Yeah, I know." she said with a casual shrug. "But...you are awfully light...but then again, considering how skinny you are." the Boy let out a quiet shriek, the second he realised he was shirtless, a wave of embarassment came over him, pale skin consumed by a crimson blush as the boy frantically reached for the covers, pulling them up to cover his bare torso. This embarassment would only increased when he peered over to see Annie looking at him, a faint smirk of amusement forming over her lips. _It's pathetic how easily he gets embarassed...Idiot...he's not even that bad looki-...ng...did that thought really just come into my head?._

Before she could mentally scold herself, the doors suddenly came swinging open, and in came a figure most familiar. "Armin! Are you alright!" he yelled as he stormed to the injured boy's bedside, his voice loud and thick with concern. It was none other than Eren Jaeger, the more often than not insufferable lover of Annie's good friend Mikasa.

"Eren..?" the two blondes called in unison, much to the confusion of everyone in the room. "Wha...H-...Annie?!" Eren swivelled around to face the tiny woman, arching a brow as he did. "What are you doing here...? Do you two know each other?" he asked, looking back towards the injured Armin. "Well erm...I...I-I slipped on the curb by the bus, a-and well..." Armin continued clumsily constructing an excuse, why? Annie didn't have the faintest of clues...was he threatened by her? Or perhaps...was this his way of trying to get her out of trouble? Whatever it was, watching him try to lie was borderline painful, so bluntly she intervened. "I kicked him into unconsciousness and then carried him into the hospital." she said in a manner oh so casual it was almost scary, her tone ripe with it's usual air of cold. At this, Eren didn't seem surprised at all, but it certainly annoyed him.  
Not like it's hard to piss off the hothead, but whatever.

"What?! Why the hell would you do something like that?!" He yelled inquisitively, Armin's voice breaking into a series of stifled grunts, the noises stopping once he had failed to keep Eren from anger. "I had a rough day...then some panting dude ran over and touched me, I thought he was an attacker. Oh, and in my defence, if it was my best kick, your little friend would have had his head cracked open before he even hit the pavement." She tilted her head to glare up at him, staring daggers through that wintry gaze of hers. But unlike Armin, Eren wasn't intimidated by Annie, but all those in this room knew fully well that Eren Jaeger wasn't intimidated by anyone, the difference being that while Armin thought of this as courage, Annie saw it as mere stupidity. When Eren stepped forward to further scold the woman, he felt himself stopped as Armin reached forward, tugging on Eren's shirt with both arms. "E-Eren, stop...I-It's alright, I've forgiven her. It was my fault...and she's the one who carried me over here, so.." Armin frowned as he pleaded to his best friend, weakly gripping the fabric of his shirt in a feeble attempt to pull him back. When Eren saw this expression, he trembled slightly, the blind anger slowly being released in the form of a heavy dejected sigh and he nodded, expressing his reluctant agreement only to be cut off by the sound of his phone ringing. "Probably Mikasa. I gotta take this, hang on." and with that, he left once more, leaving the other two alone once again.

Once Armin nodded to him, he looked away, and back to Annie, however he noticed something particularly odd. Her eyes, those glinting glacial orbitals, they had changed. Whereas before they exhibited either anger or no emotion at all, here they seemed different, showing only utter surprise. "Hey, W-What is it...?" Armin asked her. The Girl paused for a brief moment, staring at him with an absolutely confounded expression _w_ _hat...is... She_ shook her head, pushing those thoughts aside, eyes swiftly returning to their natural state. "H-Hm...? Oh. Uhh, just...for what you did, calming your friend down. I...thank you." the last words were mumbled at best, but they still made Armin grin. "D-Don't mention it...I know Eren can be a pain when he gets mad, and it looks like you know that too but, his will is good...always. Even if he does come off a bit strong. How do you two know eachother anyway?" Annie blinked, quietly adjusting her hair. It didn't take much to see that at this point her mind at this point was clearly elsewhere. "Through Mikasa. She's probably my best friend, and she spends an awful lot of time with him. So yeah, I have to too sometimes." Annie slowly stepped up from the armchair, grabbing her phone from the side and tucking her hands into the pockets of her hoodie. "Your Mikasa's friend?" Armin questioned, before finally he came across the realisation, something that he almost forgot was swimming through his mind. "That's right! When we met on the bus, I knew i'd seen you from somewhere. You go to the same college too, right?" He asked, to which he recieved a curt nod as response. "I do...I d-..um, listen, I need to take off. I've got things to take care of and with your friend here now, If I stayed I'd only be a burden." she murmured, giving him a weak grin, before staring back at the wall. "Oh..." What seemed like a flicker of disappointment flashed against the boy's baby blue eyes, and he frowned, peering over at the girl. "You wouldn't. B-Be a burden, I mean..." he stuttered, clearing his throat. "I...wouldn't? What do you mean?" she asked in response. Shyly, Armin began mumbling, his eyes scanning the ground in that typical awkward manner she was already so used to. "No, I just...I-I like...I like having you around, Annie." She paused briefly, staring at him with an entirely blank expression, the earlier look of surprise threatening to break through into visibility, receding once she finally managed to end her fit of stunned silence, feigning a calm tone to once again hide any hint of emotion. "Regardless, I do need to get going. Yeah..." she opened the door, but before she could take a single step she stopped, letting out an inaudible sigh, and then tilting her head around to look upon him one final time. "I'll see you around...Armin."

She strode down the corridors at a quick pace, swiping up her earphones and putting them in, completely ignoring Eren and whatever lovey-dovey crap he was rambling about, proceeding fast to the exit.

 _Why...?_ she pondered to herself. _I yelled at him...I knocked him utterly senseless...I practically broke his skull and...he "enjoys my company"?..._

_What the fuck is with that kid?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All feedback is immensely appreciated including criticism so long as it is constructive
> 
> The title is the french for 'a madness shared by two.'
> 
> We do not own any characters we've used, nor do we own Attack on Titan.


	3. Lovers come and go, but aggressive displays of martial arts can impress new ones, so who cares?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Armin has mostly recovered from his injury, but funnily enough can't seem to get his assailant out of his mind...

Collapsing wearily onto the couch next to his and Eren's TV, Armin groaned angstily. His work was piling up in a precariously balanced stack nearby, and all those equations had given him a headache. _I've got time_ , he reasoned with himself, _I'll get an asprin, have a rest and get back to it later._ Eren always complained about having to rush his work, but the fool always did it at the last minute, and even then only with Mikasa's insistent nagging. Armin, on the other hand, had always been meticulously organised, usually owing to his crushing, ever-present fear of failure. He'd never missed a deadline as far as he could remember, and he didn't plan to start any time soon. Unfortunately, with Eren and Mikasa's late night romps keeping him awake (and keeping his innocent little mind traumatised) he'd recently began cutting it closer than normal, having to finish projects the night before with his roommate, also leading to further delays while they stopped to joke around occasionally. He frowned slightly as he felt his eyes close. He had to pull it together in the next couple of months or he'd fail his finals.

 

A door slamming woke him with a jolt, feeling the slight pool of drool underneath where his head lay with a shiver of disgust.  _I really gotta stop doing that_ , he thought, groggily rising from his spot in the corner of the sofa. 'Afternoon, fuckwad.' was the delightful greeting Eren chose to bestow upon Armin today. It'd been two weeks since the incident with Annie in the ER and strangely enough during this time Eren had decided that his trauma warranted his own quaint form of sympathy in the form of less foul words, and not waking him up when he was sleeping, but apparently two weeks had been the designated recovery period and these rules no longer applied. 

'What time is it?' Armin inquired, hoping to all the saints and gods above that he hadn't slept too late. 'Don't worry bro, you can drift back off to neverland in a little while, I'm only here to grab my gym clothes' came the muffled shout from the other room. Armin shook his head, smiling slightly. Eren's weird workout obsession had been a running joke for quite some time, it seemed to Armin like he spent more time on the weights than he did at home. It wasn't a bad thing mostly, just gave him some peace and quiet occasionally and that was good.

 

Emerging some minutes later carrying a duffel bag and wearing a tank top and sweatpants, Eren dumped his bag on the floor and strolled into the kitchen to grab a drink. 'Which of your workout buddies are you meeting today, 'Mr Schwarzenegger'?' Armin called over with a smirk on his face.

'Very funny, 'Mr I-Have-The-Muscle-Mass-Of-A-Gnat-On-A-Diet' and to answer your question, none of them, I'm meeting Mikasa and a friend of hers.' Eren snapped back.

'I think my nickname has a better ring to it, dude. Anyway, a 'friend' of Mikasa's? How does she have friends? No offense Eren, but she is one of the most terrifying beings I've ever encountered. Like, she's almost as scary as that new game you got last week...' This caused a violent eruption of laughter from the other man, causing him to dribble protein shake (another gym thing Armin loved to make fun of) all over the floor. 'Armin, you're the biggest pussy I've ever met. Bloodborne made you cry like a bitch, and it's not even bad. You gotta man up!' he sighed. 'Or woman up! That too...' he added hastily when he saw Armin's raised eyebrow. 'And for your information,' he continued, 'It's her friend Annie, who you've already met.' He then proceeded to grin slyly as he cleaned up the spillage his outburst had caused.

 

Armin's head shot up abruptly at this news, recalling the events of a fortnight ago. His head throbbed painfully as he remembered the sheer force of her kick. It made sense that she would go to the gym often, and as there was only one near the college, she and Eren were bound to run into each other.  _Maybe I should go say hello_ , he mused, before realising how stupid that sounded.  _How would that go along?_ He chuckled to himself as he imagined the scenario. ' _Hello Annie! I'm Armin, that guy you beat up a while ago, just thought I'd pop along to say hello!'_ But nonetheless, he felt a weird desire to see her again. It was as if some part of him wasn't thinking about the injury she had given him, and was instead casting his memory back to the image of her giggle when she saw him fall on the bus. She had been, although he hadn't really noticed it that much at the time, very cute with the way her she covered her mouth to muffle the sound, and the sound that had come out was (a cliche, for sure, but) music to his ears. It was just something about her that made him feel weird. Good weird, definately, but he'd never felt it before.  _I'll go along and see what happens_ , he decided,  _for all I know she might not even be there, might've bailed or had other things to do._ The only question left was that of how to bring up coming along in a casual manner.

 

'You know', Armin uttered cautiously, 'I've wanted to try exercising for a while now, and you're quite fond of it as I've observed...' It was now Eren's turn to raise an eyebrow, but Armin continued nonetheless. 'Mind if I tag along to give it a little try?' he finished with a pleading look.

'I'm surprised, I thought you never cared much for your body.' Eren replied, and his puzzled look suddenly turned into a smirk. 'Strange that you suddenly seem so interested now I've mentioned that Anni-' he managed to get out before his blushing roommate yelled at him to 'shut his stupid protein shake guzzling mouth.' with a low chuckle, Eren told him to change into something more suited to the gym. A muttered thanks could be heard before the blonde practically ran off to get a bag.

 

Armin had never been to a Gym before, and it was a strange experience for him to say the least. All he could smell was sweat, and all the people walking past were intimidatingly ripped to put it lightly. Following Eren nervously down the hall, he was starting to regret his decision to come. It was pitiful how he stacked up to everyone, these colossal giants with their rippling muscles, training diligently, how mighty in stature they appeared when compared with a tiny blonde nerd wrestling the urge to hide himself away in a bathroom cubicle and play on his 3DS in silence until they went home. "Huh, wondering why I ever had doubts about bringing you here. I mean obviously you're right at home." Eren murmured through a couple of disconnected chuckles, going through yet another set of double doors. "Wow...I haven't seen you this on edge in a while...and you're on edge a lot." Armin only sighed and looked away, fingers shaking as they clutched the straps of his backpack. This was a dumb idea right from the start and he knew it, he was starting to wonder why he even bothered coming here and then he got the perfect reminder. As he looked up, it was only then that he saw her, the only reason he came here. Annie Leonhardt. She stood on the navy blue mat, her knees bent ever so slightly while her entire body was firmly locked into a distinctive combat stance. She took a step forth, swinging her fist around until it clashed hard against the boxing bag. She would follow up, her attacks rolling in an impressively quick succession, each lightning-fast punch landing with thunderous impact, her glacial stare seemingly immovable, making her look unphazed and unfatigued, while her platinum blonde hair would flow along with every strike. Armin watched, so intently in fact that he...found himself entranced, completely mesmerised by the amazing display of grace and power "Hey, Earth to Fuckwad!" Eren called out, bonking him to get his attention. "You've been silent for like...over a minute, are you okay?" In his daze, Armin failed to notice the arrival of his dear friend Mikasa. "O-Oh...hey Mikasa! Ahehe..." he managed to cough out awkwardly, failing to notice the blush that was burning against his own cheeks. "Hi Armin. You're looking... perplexingly awkward. What's wrong?" the woman responded cooly, staring at him with intrigue while Eren gently wrapped his arm around her. "Heh, don't worry Mikasa, you know him, he's just a little awkward in situations like this." As he said this, Eren subtly gave a nod towards Annie, the source of Armin's stunned behaviour, a smug, shit eating grin spreading across his face when he saw the blonde boy's blush grow deeper. "The Gym!" Armin replied a little too quickly. "I just...I-I'm not used to...to the gym! So...that's why I'm weird yeah...gym!" He looked at the both of them with wide, desperately pleading eyes. This response had Eren unable to contain his mirth, struggling to stifle his own chuckling, while Mikasa only blinked, raising an eyebrow due in worry over his erratic behaviour. "...Are you sure? You're acting weird...and you're alll red , here let me check if you have a fever." she stepped right ahead, and put her palm to Armin's forehead, but the boy only stepped away in resistance amidst dismissive muttering. It wasn't rare for Mikasa to be over-protective, in fact, of his days in the hospital Armin couldn't recall many instances where the woman wasn't sitting by his bedside. Armin knew that she would do anything for those she loved, and he counted himself lucky to be one of those people. "Hm, oh well you seem fine after all. Just don't over exert yourself, now come on." she asked, giving a nod and then walking off hand in hand with her boyfriend, whilst beckoning for Armin to come along. "Err, you go on ahead...I need to go grab a soda." he lied, quickly turning away and walking to the vending machine, waiting for his friends to leave.

 

Once they were gone, a new sense of nervousness filled him, a fluttery feeling plaguing his stomach as his gaze set upon Annie once again. With a quiet gulp, he mustered up all the courage he could and slowly began to walk ahead, body still shaking gently. She finished her combo with a Kick, one so reminiscent of the one she used to knock him flat on his ass that it immediately brought back those (literally) painful memories. As she sipped her flask of water, Armin moved slowly behind her, knowing better than to make any form of unexpected physical contact, timidly he called her "A-Annie...?" The girl stopped, slowl turning toward him and staring with a blink. "...Armin?" she inquired, the boy was almost surprised that she remembered him, maybe he just assumed that knocking out bystanders was normal practice for her. When she turned towards him, he caught sight of her direct gaze once more. He couldn't help but admire her blue-gray eyes, they had a kind of bleak elegance to them, like two translucent pearls formed from the coldest ice. "Err...hi! H-How've you been?" he asked, grinning and sticking out his hand immediately. "...fairly well." she nodded, shaking his hand as he offered, tilting her head to stare up at him. "And you? How's the head?" 'Terrible' Armin thought t himself, though still being friendly for the sake of being friendly and the fear of irking this terrifying tiny woman, he simply shrugged off this pain. "Oh, it healed up well...definitely. Still stings now and then but other than that, it's great." With an ever so weak smile, she unhooked the bag, walking off and speaking in her ever so soft almost soothing tone. "'I'm glad to hear it. So, what brings you to the gym? I mean, I'm not a detective but It doesn't look like this is your usual routine." she muttered, tossing the bag with the others adjusting her wrist tape. "W-What do you mean by that?" Armin retorted, his blue eyes widened as he crossed his arms. " Well..." She gave him a glance over before shrugging and walking back his way. "It's uncommon for unfit, scrawny girly looking nerds to care that much about their body...that's all." she stated bluntly. Raising an eyebrow, Armin replied 'I'll have you know that I am not unfit, and that it's very rude for you to assume that!'. At least, that's what he meant to say. In reality he just made a timid noise of agreement and shrugged. 'Well... In any case, you could do with a bit of exercise. Who knows,' she smirked 'Maybe one day you'll be able to keep up with me.' Hooking a new bag into place, she resumed her furious flurry of blows as Armin watched on in awe. Two jabs, followed by a right hook and a spinning back kick. Her movements never jarred or slowed, each moving fluidly into the next in a maelstrom of limbs and kinetic energy. With a final leaping roundhouse punch, loaded with all her formidable strength, she burst a hole in the punching bag, exhaling violently as she did so. As she hit the floor, knees bent, and sweat dripping from her brow, Armin stepped back and whistled appreciatively. She shot a wolfish smile his way, as she stood up, and called over an employee. She told him to put the burst bag on her bill, and strolled leisurely over to where Armin stood. 'That was... frankly incredible, Annie!' He spluttered awkwardly, 'Who was it that taught you to fight like that?'

 

And with that simple question, her stance changed to become more withdrawn and defensive, and her eyes turned to ice. With a cold hard stare, she bluntly stated 'My dad mostly, followed with some Krav Maga to keep my skill levels up.' Noting her reaction, Armin raised his hands and said. 'Ok... ok... I'll not ask that again.' She relaxed slightly, and noticed Mikasa and Eren approaching behind them. 

 

The latter of the two smirked knowingly as he saw the way Armin kept looking at Annie when he thought she wasn't paying attention, but said nothing on that. Instead he asked the pair 'If you're done with your workout,' adding a joking snort of derision at Armin's lack of sweat or tiredness,' Me and Mikasa are going to chill with a few beers and maybe watch that new drama that's on. You guys in?' Annie shrugged and muttered 'suppose it could be alright. I'm down...' and Armin sighed and pointed out he didn't have a choice really as he lived with 'jaegerbombastic' and he'd usually have the volume at a deafening level so he may as well join them. With a quick change of clothes, and Annie quickly paying for the punching bag she broke (Armin did see the clerk at the desk was unfazed by her actions, so he assumed she had done this before...), they exited through the front door and began to walk back to their home.

 


	4. Chapter 4: The Unfortunate Incident with the Not-So Soundproof Walls

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After their encounter at the Gym, Armin, Annie, Eren and Mikasa return to the apartment, allowing the former pair to bond over TV, Embarrassing Stories, and a traumatising experience.

Eren's key chain clattered noisily onto the shelf just inside the apartment door, as he and his companions stepped inside. Armin stopped and held open the door for Annie, earning him a twitch at the side of her mouth that could be taken for a smile of gratitude. Beer in hands (well, most hands, as Armin preferred diet coke), and television on, they collapsed wearily onto the couches. Eren and Mikasa were spooning on the large settee, and the other duo were laying with their legs casually entangled on the smaller pull-out couch. Curtains drawn, and lights off, the programme began to play... The sound of Mikasa opening the fridge suddenly made them all jump. That girl's ability to move seemingly invisibly and silently had caused them all to near enough have heart attacks more than a few times. Armin looked at the clock. The digits, barely visible in the dark, read 00:59.

'Right fuckwad and fuckwadette,' Eren exclaimed, chortling to himself, amused by the sharp wit and comic genius he had, in his mind, just displayed. 'Me and mikasa,' was all he managed to get out before the other three, in perfect synchronisation,corrected him with a mutter of 'Mikasa and I.' He corrected himself irritably, before continuing. 'Mikasa and I are going to head to bed. You guys can stay up as late as you want, just don't get up to any funny business, I just cleaned that couch last week.' Armin blushed a deep shade of crimson and shot Eren a glare. Annie, unfazed by this remark, bid them a good night, and brought up the TV guide. With one last mirthful grin at Armin, Eren led Mikasa through his bedroom door, leaving the other two alone in the dark. After spending a while flicking through channel after channel of either 70's cop show re-runs or history documentaries, they gave up and left the tv on one of those infomercials, trying to sell some kind of new hose or something. Annie grabbed another beer and opened the top with her hand, smiling at a Armin's look of amazement. Armin smiled back, his tiredness making his anxiety ebb away, and replacing it with something akin to confidence. 

'So, Annie, how long have you known Mikasa?' he enquired, in an attempt to start a conversation. 

She twisted around so her back was facing the side of the couch, and replied 'About six months now. I teach a yoga class near campus, and she's my best student. I made her my assistant, we began talking and then we started working out together. How long have you known Eren? You two seem pretty close.'

Breaking away from gazing at her face, which he abruptly realised he had been doing, he stammered out a response. 'A-a long time now actually. God, I can't even re-remember when. Since we were kids I think. We went to the same kindergarten and we've just stuck together like glue.' He looked up and saw she had a little grin on her face. Confused, he cocked his head to the side, prompting her response of 'After knowing each other for so long, you guys must have a couple of stories to tell.' 

At this, Armin burst out into raucous laughter, before covering his mouth and looking towards Eren's door. Now it was Annie's turn to be confused. He managed to suppress his laughter to a muffled giggle, and calmed himself down. He looked over at Annie and, between giggles, began to tell her about the time he had come back to their apartment years ago. It was late on a rainy Sunday, and Armin had gone grocery shopping. They were running low on paprika, and other spices that Armin used in his cooking. Eren had never cared for fancy food, preferring to live off takeaway pizza and frozen ready meals, and as such he had refused to come along. Half an hour later, hair soaked, Armin walked up the stairs to his and Eren's floor. He stepped round the corner and what he saw was something he had never, ever, expected to see. Pinned to the wall, neck adorned with a slash of hickeys, gasping loudly, was his 100% heterosexual bro-dude-no-homo roommate. Standing against him was their short, angry neighbour Levi Ackerman. At the sight of Armin, Levi winked, stepped back and called 'See you around, brat.' to Eren, sauntering off into his house. Stammering and panicking, Eren told him about how they had been talking outside, and all of a sudden Levi had pinned him, and there was 'nothing he could do about it,' and that he was 'stronger than he looked.' He had then made Armin promise not to tell, but a story like that was just too embarrassing to keep a secret.

'...you're kidding right?' Annie murmured, biting her lip to supress a grin, Armin said nothing, just smiling and shaking his head. 'Oh god, you're not kidding...' They both broke out into low chuckles.

'Do us both, and Eren, a favour and NEVER mention it to Mikasa.' Armin advised her. 'She's the jealous type, you know.' Raising an eyebrow, she agreed to keep her lips sealed.

They grabbed more drinks and sat down, agreeing to watch another movie then sleep. About halfway through the film, Armin was about to fall asleep, slipping out of conciousness as he watched the movie. He had been sneaking glances over at Annie throughout, and god did she look amazing. She was wearing sweatpants and an old t-shirt, with her hair up in a messy bun. To others, it might have not been ideal, but to Armin she was always stunning, somehow. And then, just as he was about to work up the courage to tell her she looked nice, he heard it. 

The sound he had been hoping and praying not to hear, just for one night. But alas, the sound reverberated throughout the house. A creak of bedsprings, combined with a soft moan could be heard from Eren's room. Armin let loose a heavy sigh, his head dropping as his face was covered with a mess of untamed blond hair. The Girl sitting at his side stared forward blankly, before her gaze slowly rolled upwards towards the wall, her formerly contented expression becoming clouded with a thick layer of bemusement. "Is that--.." she went to ask. 

Armin immediately blurted out "Yup." to stop her from talking, shutting his eyes; preparing. The pair went dead silent and stared upwards in unison, their stares equally disgusted. Eren and Mikasa's "dirty talk" was awkward to say the least, random murmurings of unimaginative phrases such as 'oh yeah', 'fuck', and 'you like that?' were spliced into the unbearable groans above. It was repulsive yes, but as if it were a gruesome and horrific car crash, the two were simply unable to divert their attention from the loud mess that those two would call love-making. This all climaxed into; not an...actual climax, but a rather disturbing twist, one that forced their noisy fornication to come to a screaming halt. Eren let out a series of surprised moans, and based on the muffled sounds, Mikasa managed to take brief control during the activities before yelling out. "Mnm, yeah, who's your mommy?!" The pair of eavesdroppers froze simultaneously. 

Annie's face became filled with horror and shock, her gaze meeting the ceiling as if she was staring right through, judging in silence. Armin conversely, simply sighed, shaking his head and waiting for the worst to come. The moaning and thumping was replaced with Eren’s violent angry sobbing a welcome, albeit baffling change. “What. The. Fuck.” Annie hopelessly replied, her voice a confused and exhausted murmur. “Tell me this isn’t a regular thing.” She asked in desperation. 

“Well…” he hesitated for a moment, this information wasn’t something he usually told to other people, and he preferred to keep these horrifying experiences to himself, but he knew the girl in front of him was someone he could trust, and besides, tonight they had suffered through it together. “The banging?…Yes. The crying? Not so much…not for a while, but it’s still far more common than I’d like to admit.” 

Annie shook her head. “What’s with him anyway? Is she too rough or does he have some sort of crippling spontaneous erectile dysfunction?” Armin stifled a chuckle, before shaking his head and composing himself. “No, no…nothing like that. The only thing to blame is Mikasa’s…very poor use of words.” He said, hoping the answer would be satisfying enough, but Annie faced him blankly in response, her eyebrow raised as if signaling for some elaboration on the topic. The boy sighed, he didn’t want to divulge this information but it was clear he had to at this point. “I probably shouldn’t say but…when he was a kid, Eren’s mom was kinda…um, murdered…in front of him.” 

“Oh…” Annie replied quietly.. “That’s… That’s pretty rough…” her mocking tone died down quickly and her eyes receded into their former cold state, prompting a frown to appear upon Armin’s visage as he began  mentally kicking himself, clearly he'd struck some kind of a nerve “My mother died even earlier…I never even knew her.” Annie interjected from the silence. “It’s just been me and my Dad si-…well it had until-…” she paused, blinking; shaking her head and looking away. “Let’s not talk about it.” She pulled out a pair of headphones from her bag plugging her them in and lying down on the couch. 

“Wha-…hey. Didn’t you say you had to get home tonight.” Armin asked. Annie yawned, her tiny body stretching out as she got relaxed. “I did, yeah. But do you really think I’d let you suffer this alone? I’m a bitch but I’m not entirely soulless.” She shot him a sharp smirk making the boy blush immediately.

The hours flew past, Annie gradually slipped into a deep sleep, in her unconscious state, she accidentally found herself nestled into Armin's chest. The boy smiled weakly, comforted, content, and with Annie by his side, for the first time in years, Armin Arlert slept like a baby.

**Author's Note:**

> All feedback is immensely appreciated including criticism so long as it is constructive
> 
> The title is the french for 'a madness shared by two.'
> 
> We do not own any characters we've used, nor do we own Attack on Titan.


End file.
